Reacher Season 3 Actor Explains Episode 5’s Major Death: It’s ‘Horrendous’

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In the fifth episode of Season 3 of “Reacher,” titled “Smackdown,” which premiered on Prime Video on March 6, 2025, a significant character meets their end. Actress Sonya Cassidy, who portrays Special Agent Susan Duffy in the series, has shared her thoughts on this plot twist and how it will affect her character in a recent interview.

Sonya Cassidy on Steven Eliot’s death in Reacher Season 3 Episode 5

In the fifth episode of Reacher Season 3, a member of Duffy’s team, the rookie DEA agent named Steven Eliot, played by Daniel David Stewart, is tragically killed. A fateful decision on his part to comply with John Cooper’s (Ronnie Rowe) persistent plea for a cigarette leads to his untimely demise. As Eliot lights up, Cooper spits alcohol at him, causing a fire that burns Eliot’s face. Subsequently, Cooper’s bodyguard brutally ends Eliot’s life by stomping on his face repeatedly. In an interview with TVLine, Cassidy expressed her distress over Eliot’s death, describing it as “awful,” and went on to discuss the impact it would have on Duffy and the rest of their team.

Cassidy remarked that it’s almost inconceivable to consider the loss of a team member, someone so young… He further noted that it was also a heart-wrenching symbol of where their investigation involving Anthony Michael Hall’s character, Zachary Beck, and Brian Tee’s character, Xavier Quinn, had reached at that point.

Cassidy further explained that her character and her team were in a tough spot, losing to their opponents and struggling to find Duffy’s CI Teresa. She stated, “At this point, we stand at a critical juncture with Duffy. She wonders if she should persist, how much more she can endure. Yet, her resolve is unyielding, and she decides, ‘His death cannot have been in vain, so let’s just…let’s push through.’

Despite the obstacles, Cassidy shared that Duffy remained resolute about completing her task. ‘I [Duffy] am not abandoning this quest; I can’t abandon it,’ she expressed, ‘given that a young man’s life was lost and Teresa has yet to be found.’

Significantly, Eliot can be found in the novel “Persuader,” which serves as the basis for the show. In the original storyline, Eliot doesn’t meet his end so prematurely, but the event does transpire nonetheless.

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2025-03-07 15:34